Electrolier



L. M. WOOD.

ELECTROLIER.

'APPLICAUON HLED MAY 25, I918- Patented June 22, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

L. M. WOOD.

ELECTBOLIER- APPLICATION FILED MAY 25, 1918.

Patented June 22, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LORENA M. WOOD, or SPOKANE, WASHINGTON.

EIiECTROIiIER.

- ity, and such means being controlled by coin looking to the right in Fig. 1.

' nating.

operated mechanism to make the; electric circuit during the time allotted, and to break the circuit when the allotted time expires.

' f The electrolier or electric lighting fixture is designed for use in apartments, rooming houses, hotels and similar places, where it is intended that the lighting fixtures or electric lamps shall be accessible for'use at any time, but in addition to these the fixture provides an electric current that may be used ,for electric irons, heating utensils, etc.

Thus the room occupant is furnished with thecustomary lighting facilities, but is prevented from surreptitiously using thelighting circuit, and is requiredto pay, independently, for the electricity consumed for purposes other than lighting, or illumi- The invention consists essentially in certain novel combinations and arrangements of parts providing an electric circuit maker and circuit breaker, the same operated through the intervention of a coin operated device and in conjunction with a spring or other kind of motor. In the accompanying drawings one complete example of the physical embodiment of the invention is illustrated, constructed and arranged according to the best mode so far devised for the practical application of the principles of the invention.

Figure 1 is a sectional view of the housing or casing for the electrolier, showing the operating parts of the invention in side elevation. r I

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of thefixture with the hinged lid or cover removed. .5 Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the Fig. 4 is a detail ofv part of the motor frame and motor.

- Fig. 5 is a sectional view through oneof the electric lamp sockets, showing the manfixture I Specification of Letters latentf Patented June 22, 1920, Application filed May 25, 1918. Serial No. 236,615.

ner of locking the lamp, through its plug, in socket.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a controlling ratchet wheel and pawl, in the motor.

' Fig. 7 is a perspectiveview of the coin chute.

. V In the preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the drawings the electrolier or lighting fixture is incased within a bowl orcup like receptacle 1 which may be of usual material and design, and the bowl is provided with a hinged top or cover 2 which is locked tov the bowl through the utilization of the key 3, and the support or pendant 4 for the fixture is attached to this cover, so that the bowl, when required, may be unlocked from the top 2 by the key, and swung downwardly so that access may be had to the interior of the housing.

Two sockets 5 and 6, and the bottom socket 6 areshown forming part of the bowl, but it will be understood of course that more sockets may be utilized if desired. The two lateral sockets 5 and 6 are designed to have the usual incandescent lamps threaded therein, the plug of one of them-being indicated by the numeral 7. To prevent removal of the illuminating lamps by unauthorized parties, or surreptitious use of the lamps, they are locked in their sockets, and for this purpose a spring pressed detent 8 is employed which engages the plug 7 to lock it against rotation. A seal 10 is provided to prevent tampering with the lamp .lock and this seal is employed to retain the cap-9 on the barrel 11, the latter forming a housing for the spring pressed detent or pawl. The wires 12 and 13 are conductors for electric current to the lamps, and they in the bowl with the other lamps or fixtures,

A motor frame 14 of suitable structure and required shape is attached to the cover 2 and this frame supports the spring wound motor 15 provided with a spring 16 and of the usual clock-work type so that a detailed description of the motor is unnecessary. The motor is wound through the instrumentality of the winding stem 17 the pair of bevel pinions 18 and the second pair 19, the first pair 18 being normally held out of mesh, but engaged by pushing up on the stem when it is desired to wind the motor, and through these gears the spring is wound, which, in turn, operates the train of gears of the clockwvork motor when free to do so.

In connection with the motor a special ratchet wheel 20 is employed, being located at the upper end of the motor, and provided with i a ratchet ring 21 and a concentric smooth ring 22 that are separated by a shoulder 23, and the ends of these two depressed rings-the ratchet ring and the smooth ring, are joined, the walls 21 and 22 being arranged to close the rings and to act as cam faces for the pawl 24 that is pivoted to the motor frame and adapted to traverse these rings as the wheel revolves. This ratchet wheel controls and regulates the spring motor and in Fig. 6 it will be seen that the pawl is in position to permit the motor being wound, and as it is Wound, the pawl will follow the course of the ratchet ring as the wheel rotates in the direction of the arrow Fig. 6,-until the pawl engages the cam 21- and is then shifted over to the smooth ring 22 so that it may be guided back to its proper position by the cam face 22 to again place it in operative position for holding the spring actu ated mechanism as the motor is wound. For instance, if the spring 16 were only partly wound, the pawl 2 L engaging with one of the teeth 21 would hold the device against operation, until a complete revolution of the wheel 20 had been made and the pawl guided into the smooth groove.

The action of the motor determines the duration of the time in which the circuit is complete for use of the electric appliance to be attached to the socket 6, and in connection with the motor a coin operated device is employed. A coin chute 25, preferably of fiber or other, non-conducting material is employed, and its upper open end or mouth 26 is located just beneath the coin slot 26 in the cover or lid 2, a bracket 26 being employed .to secure the chute to the cover. The chute depends alongside the motor and is slotted to receive a magnet 27, illustrated as of the horseshoe type, which is designed to attract and hold a false or fictitious coin and prevent it falling through the chute to operate the device. The sides of the chute are provided with opposed metallic plates 28 and 29 spaced apart to receive and hold between them a coin, and for this purpose these two conductor plates are somewhat resilient so that they may clasp the coin between them, and yet be free to be moved to permit the coin to fall free of them when required. The two conductor plates are provided with angle contact members 30 and 31 respectively, to which the wires of the circuit are properly connected, and when a coin is present between the two resilient arms 28 and 29 the coin completes the circuit so that the electric appliance attached to the socket 6 may be used.

The circuit is broken and the coin re leased by the action of a cam plate 32 on the cam disk 33 that is supported by means of its shaft 3 1 in the motor frame and operatively connected with the motor to make one complete revolution, and after this revolution the circuit is broken.

The cam wheel is held inoperative by a spring pressed plunger 35 and has an open slot 36 for the passage of a coin through its body near its periphery, and its underface is provided with a socket 37 in which the spring pressed plunger fits to hold the disk still.

Thus when anelectrical appliance is to be used by attachment to the socket 6, the motor is first wound with the pawl 24 holding the ratchet Wheel against reverse movement, an escapement 36 being employed as usual in the clock-work motor, and the ratchet wheel is turned until the pawl passes from the ratchet ring to the smooth ring as described, the wound motor being held by the spring "pressed. plunger 35 in its socket 37 of the cam disk. a

After the motor has been wound-and the pin or plunger 35 withdrawn, the coin is dropped in the chute and falls to the bottom thereof where it is held between the two conductor arms of the chute to complete the circuit. The coin is held between its arms until the cam disk reaches a position so that its cam will engage the hooked bracket 30 on the conductor 28 and this cam engagement pulls the resilient arm '28 away from its mate 29 releasing the coin which drops through the slot in the disk to the coin box 38 in the bottom of the bowl, and the coin may be recovered by the authorized parties by admittance to the bowl through the door or hinged plate 39, the hinge being indicated at 39 and the door being locked by the key 40.

When the coin is released from the chute,

the circuit is broken, and of course the power is withdrawn from the appliance attached to the socket 6, which as seen in Fig. 3 has the wires 11 and 12 leading thereto and connected to the contact members in usual manner.

The motor is of course wound up bythe spring pressed stem 17 after each use, or

prior to usage of the electric appliance, and

the cam disk is held locked by the spring pressed plunger engaging the socket in the underside of the disk as soon as the predetermined amount of electricity has been used.

Claim In an electrical fixture the combination of a closed bowl, a revoluble disk and actuating means therefor in the bowl, a spring pressed plunger-stop supported in the bowl accessible from the exterior of the bowl for release and normally engaging said disk to 10 .a coin, and a cam on the revoluble disk adapted to separate the side plates at a pre- 15 determined time, for the purpose described. In testimony whereof I afiix my si nature.

LORENA M. W OD. 

